Blu-ray: It’s OK, but convenience is better

Earlier this month, I asked members of the TechBlog communitywhat Blu-ray player I should buy. I’d decided to go ahead and take the plunge, and perhaps most importantly, my lovely wife accountant had given me permission to make the purchase.

I also put the question to my followers on Twitter and Google+. I wound up with a lot of suggestions, just as when I asked folks aboutwhich HDTV I should buy. I appreciate all the suggestions very much.

But, when I wound up buying it on Saturday, I ignored a lot of the advice. I ultimately made my decision based on price and taking into consideration my preferred method for watching video these days.

Several commenters here and on Google+ advised against Samsung players because of reliability issues, while others recommended them. Reviews on Amazon, Newegg and other sites complained about some issues, but usually they had to do with problems related to the unit’s wireless streaming capabilities. Since I already have an Internet-connected TV and a Roku box, Wi-Fi connectivity wasn’t a high priority.

But that price was compelling, and in most of the reviews I read of the BD-D5300, users had no problem playing discs. I decided to take the plunge, journeyed up Interstate 45 to the Fry’s at West Road and made my buy. I also wanted a Blu-ray movie to watch, so I picked up a copy ofV for Vendetta, one of my favorite recent films.

This model is fairly full-featured. It supports BD-Live, which lets you download additional material for some Blu-ray discs. It also works with my Samsung TV, turning the set on when I insert a disc. I can also use the Samsung TV’s remote control with the Blu-ray player.

Setup was a breeze. I already had an extra HDMI cable, and I used that to connect the player to my TV. There were only a few screens – language, screen size and networking, which I skipped – and the player was ready to go.

The BD-D5300 is described as “Wi-Fi ready”, and what that means is that it can work with an optional USB Wi-Fi adapter, similar to the one that I got with my HDTV. It has a USB connection for this adapter, but it can also accept a USB flash drive with video, music or photos on it. This flash drive can also be used to deliver a firmware update.

And that’s exactly what I did, before I tried to play anything. I downloaded the firmware update from Samsung’s support site, unzipped it and dropped the resulting folder onto a flash drive. I put the flash drive into the player and kicked off the update process in the settings menu. In less than 5 minutes, the BD-D5300 was up to date.

I then sat down and watched a good chunk of V for Vendetta. Indeed, as I’ve seen on friends’ Blu-day/HDTV setups, the images were impressively clear, the colors vibrant. For example: In one early scene, the protagonist raises his Guy Fawkes mask to his face via the camera’s point of view, and you can clearly see the grain of the mask as it moves toward his face.

A scene from V for Vendetta (Warner Bros.)

But here’s the deal with Blu-ray – its 1080p resolution is impressive, but it’s not that much more impressive than the 720p resolution you can get via streaming high-definition content. I find the convenience of streaming content a lot more compelling for most video than the improved quality found on Blu-ray discs. In other words, given the choice of watching a movie for the evening on Blu-ray or via Amazon On Demand, I’m more apt to choose the latter because the effort of going to the video store – or waiting for the disc to come in the mail via Netflix – isn’t worth the extra effort to me.

That’s true for most movies. There are some that I might want to see in Blu-ray detail. The final Harry Potter installment, for example, or maybe Cowboys & Aliens, when those two are eventually released on disc. But for 95 percent of my movie watching, I’ll use streaming.

Thus, $69 buys me the option of using Blu-ray. For me, that’s just about what it’s worth.